Friday, June 24, 2011

Power consumption is an important criterion for every laptop user to measure the performance of a laptop. A laptop is designed to work on battery power, and so, laptop users expect consistency in performance even if the laptop is running solely on the power of its batteries. However, this cannot be guaranteed, as laptop batteries can only provide ample power if they are charged accordingly.

However, by keeping to the power saving tips given below, you can work for longer hours on your laptop even when it is running on batteries. Here are some simple ways to extend your laptop battery life:

Dim screen brightness:

The display is one of the biggest power consuming components in a laptop. You can save a good amount of battery power by just lowering the screen brightness. Every laptop has software tools or function keys to lower screen brightness. To save, power you need to reduce the brightness of your screen to a comfortable level where you can read the text on screen without straining your eyes. Dimming screen brightness is a win-win situation for you as your eyes are not strained due to a brighter screen and you also save power in the long run. You can also save power by setting the screen to switch off automatically after a specific period of inactivity.

Switch off the Wi-Fi:

Today, every laptop is equipped with a Wi-Fi feature. This feature is switched on by default when you log onto the system. The Wi-Fi remains active even if you are not using it. It is one of the biggest power guzzlers and can drain your battery power rapidly without you knowing about it. In fact, Wi-Fi draws more power from the battery when you are not using it.

You need to manually change the settings and switch the Wi-Fi off if you don’t plan to use it or if there are no Wi-Fi networks in the vicinity. Some laptops have buttons that allow you switch off Wi-Fi. If your laptop doesn’t have a button to switch off Wi-Fi, navigate to Network Connections in the Control Panel menu and disable Wi-Fi.